Carol of the Pines
by Mensis Eclipse
Summary: 4 months after the summer has ended, Ford and Stanley return to Piedmont to visit family for the holidays. The only catch, they haven't seen this part of the Pines family in nearly 40 years. And after decades of neglect, Stan and Ford discover that they have missed out on much more than several Christmases.
1. Part 1

**Author's Note** \- Merry Christmas all! This is my first gravity falls fanfic and let me tell you its been a long time coming! however with a part of the Pines family tragically ignored, and the holiday cheer upon us I decided it was the perfect opportunity to explore an old sort of head canon of mine. Just to note this takes place 4 months after the summer ended. So I hope you enjoy the fanfic I've been mentally writing for almost 10 months now!

* * *

The windshield was coated with fog and the snow was coming down hard. Not a good combination.

Outside it was pitch black and the only way to see the snow falling was through the shimmer of the headlights. Even the stars and moon seemed to have taken a holiday break, and promptly neglected their duties to bring any light to the long worn down road.

Stan lifted his foot slightly off the gas petal. If he drove the rental car off the mountain Ford would never let him hear the end of it. Although, at the moment, speeding down the ragged mountainside sounded a lot more appealing than where they were headed.

He gripped his hands tighter on the wheel.

 _Easy Stan, easy._

They had been driving for nearly 10 hours straight, all the way from Gravity Falls to Piedmont. And before that they had been on a nearly 10 hour flight from Scandinavia back to America, and still it wasn't enough time. Stan still wasn't ready.

He could feel his heart pounding, and there was a lump in his throat. Twenty more minutes and they would be there, twenty more minutes and he would be face to face with him.

A loud snore from the passenger side threw Stan off his train of thought. He couldn't help but give a small grunt to his slumbering brother beside him.

Stan tried his utmost to give his full attention back to the road. He had purposefully taken as many back roads as he could to delay the time of their arrival. And since his brother was quite unfamiliar with the commute, and the invention of GPS, he had, for the most part, gotten away with it.

And what a detour it was. For the last hundred miles the terrain was decorated with nothing but blankets of crisp white snow upon endless rolling hills, with an occasional gleam of emerald from trees that refused to give up their color. All topped with an ocean blue sky that was just recently clouded with grey and snow.

Stan eyed the radio next to him. He was hesitant to try and find a working station out here with a sleeping passenger, but he had to know if his slower pace would cost them a run in with an anticipated storm.

As quietly as he could he switched the radio on and turned the volume to its lowest decimal.

No dice.

These days even the rustling of a feather could have Ford up in a heartbeat.

He jumped up and looked to Stan quite startled.

"A-Are we there yet?" he asked groggily, still dazed from his deep slumber.

"Almost." Stan muttered, "Just a few more minutes."

Ford yawned and stretched his now stiff limbs best he could in his limited space. He then rubbed his stinging eyes and glanced at the clock.

"This is taking longer than I thought," he said, "We're going to be late for dinner."

"They'll understand." Stan grunted.

Ford's eyes wandered to the speedometer. He frowned.

"So...any reason we're going twenty miles under the speed limit?" he asked slowly.

Stan gripped the steering wheel harder and direct a small sneer towards his brother.

"Low visibility" he snapped, "Don't really feel like plunging down a mountain."

Six months ago Ford would have responded by pointing out that they were all alone on a 30mph road, however an extensive amount of time alone on a small boat with his brother had greatly taught him skills in empathy.

He was by no means an expert, but he did know enough not to combat his brother's temper with his own; especially if he didn't know where his anger stemmed from.

And now a days he had no idea where any of Stan's feelings were coming from.

He thought his sibling of all things would be elated that they were taking a few weeks off to go and visit the kids in Piedmont. For God's sake, they were all he could talk about during the first few weeks of the expeditions.

However when Stan and Ford finally received an invitation from the American bound Pines family, Ford caught his brother trying to throw it away.

The radio snapped to life, startling both twins to turn their attention back to the road in front of them.

The static on the other end was so nearly made the voice incomprehensible. All Stan and Ford could make out was three words.

"Blizzard…Piedmont…tonight."

Ford sighed and leaned back into his seat, "Well I sure hope he means in the late evening." he said.

Stan bite his lip, "Maybe we should check into a hotel Ford, just to be safe. I think a saw a sign a few miles back."

Ford shot him a questioning look, "But you said we were almost there."

"Yeah well I lied, might be another hour or so." Stan answered quickly.

He had lied, Stan knew it, Ford knew it, and Stan knew Ford knew it.

Ford studied his brother. It was times like this that he remembered why he opted to spend the majority of his life in solitude. He just didn't do well with people.

Not only did he not care much for interacting and generally being in their presence, but he didn't understand them. People weren't like numbers or systems. They were illogical, unpredictable, and completely irrational.

His brother more than most.

And the worst part was he couldn't figure them out through study and observation. With Stan it had so far been a process of trial and error. However if Stan were a law of motion, instead of falling down, this would have been like seeing the apple float into the sky.

Upon noticing his brother was again staring at him as if he were some kind of anomaly Stan shot him a glare,

"What? Am I growing a spider out of my ear or something?" he snapped.

"Stanley whats wrong?" Ford finally asked, deciding strict bluntness was the best response he could come up with to his brother's erratic behavior.

"I am just practicing safe driving Ford, I want to make sure we get there in one piece."

"If you're tired I could take the wheel." he offered.

"I'm fine." Stan said bitterly.

Ford let out a long breath. It was like trying his patience was Stanley's superpower.

"Do you not want to see the kids?" Ford asked.

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

"One based on observation," Ford snapped back, "Considering you've practically been brooding ever since we've received their invitation to come for the holidays."

Stan was quiet for a while, then finally said, "I haven't been brooding."

Ford rolled his eyes, "Well whatever you call it, you certainly haven't been excited, its almost like you're dreading to see Dipper and Mable."

Stan broke eye contact with him. Ford had every right and then some to be confused. Heck Stan himself didn't know where half his emotions were coming from. He did know one thing though.

"It's not the kids I'm... scared to see..." he muttered.

Ford paused, scared was definitely not an emotion he was expecting,"Then...who?"

Stan sighed. He was being ridiculous, he knew he was being ridiculous, but no matter how many times he tried to convince himself that, the feelings just wouldn't go away.

"Can we just not talk about this Ford?" Stan finally replied.

But Ford's mind was racing. Scared? What could his brother possibly be scared off. All they were seeing at the holiday gathering was the twins, the twins' parents and…

"You're afraid of seeing him, aren't you?" Ford asked, looking his brother straight in the eyes, "You're afraid of seeing Shermie."

Stan took a long shaky breath, "He hates me Ford…" he whispered, "He's not even gonna want to see me."

Ford's face softened, "Stan you don't know…"

"And he has every reason too," Stan continued, he hardly heard Ford, once he let a little out there was no stopping him, "I've lied to him for the past 30 years, made him believe I was dead, then ignored him when he got married, had kids, had grand kids and lost his wife."

His hands were so moist with sweat he could feel them losing their grip on the steering wheel, "Hell I wouldn't even want to see me." he whispered.

Ford once again found himself at a loss of what to say. When confronted with his brother's turmoils, and once again wishing he had the same kind of empathy instilled in him as Stan did. What could he possibly say to reassure him? He finally understood what was causing his brother so much distress but there was nothing he could do to help. All he could do was relate back to his own experiences.

"We can explain why you did it." he said optimistically, "Maybe he'll understand."

Stan stayed quiet.

Ford sighed, "Look Stan, even if he is mad at you, he'd never hate you. And I know that he can forgive you." he smiled a bit," After all, you forgave me."

Stan gave him a small smile back, "We forgave each other," he then gave a bitter laugh, "But it took the near destruction of the universe for us to do so."

Ford chuckled in return, "Yeah well luckily Shermie's more reasonable than the both of us combined."

Stan let out a genuine laugh as Ford rested his hand on his brother's shoulder, "Besides, I'll be behind you no matter what."

Stan smiled at him and nodded, and Ford for once knew he had said just the right thing.

* * *

 **Author's Note-** Part 1 of three. With any luck the rest will be uploaded tonight!


	2. Part 2

The car pulled into a near empty parking lot. The snow was coming down harder than ever and the roads were hardly recognizable. The only way Stan could identify the building as inhabited was the gleaming sign right outside; the area's only source of light.

Water's Edge Nursing Home

The brothers got out of the car and raced to the front doors of the nursing home. The cold, bitter air pierced at their unprotected skin.

The reception room inside was simple, but elegant. They were tall windows on each of the ivory walls showing a stunning view of the surrounding snow covered mountains. The room itself was furnished with mahogany wood pieces and a welcoming couch. The eye catching center piece though was a colossal tree towering the room, decorated top to bottom with sparkling glass ornaments, pearls, and as many golden lights as it could carry.

Ford and Stan took a few moments to take in the room, when Stan noticed a dark haired woman eyeing them from behind the receptionist desk. He slowly went up her.

"Merry Christmas sir," she greeted warmly, "I've never seen you two here before."

"Oh um, yeah, we're here to see a Mr. Pines." Stan said.

"Shermie Pines?" She said brightly, and Stan could feel his breath stiffen in his throat, "Of course, would you mind telling me your relation?"

"We're, um, we're his brothers." Stan said softly.

For a moment she gave him a perplexed glance, but then her eyes widened.

"Oh, yes of course, Sheldon did say he was expecting some visitors, so you're Stan and Ford Pines?" she asked.

Stan nodded.

"Well then follow me."

The receptionist lead them down a short, but well lift hallway, covered bottom up with garland and winter snowflakes and eventually stopped at a door with the name Sherman Pines engraved over it.

* * *

Alone in the room on a creaky rocking chair sat a frail, elderly man. He was as still as a statue and had his eyes fixed at a crack in one of the walls, Eyes that looked they had been lost for a long time. They were sunken into a face well dried out and ragged by the claws of time. The man's mouth was slightly ajar and one could tell the sides of his otherwise chapped lips were wet by the slight gleam of light that reflected from them.

The man would have looked dead had it not been for the slow up and down motion of his chest.

Stan could feel his once racing organs freeze like ice.

He felt the room shift a bit and saw Ford had come in behind him. He too took a few minutes to engulf their older brother's condition, then finally said, "Shermie?"

Nothing.

The man didn't even flinch. It was as if two flies had entered the room rather than his long lost brothers.

Ford cleared his throat, "Shermie." he repeated, "It's us Stanley and Ford, we're your brothers."

Shermie still didn't reply. He didn't even look over when Stan dared to inch closer.

Shermie looked even worse up close. It was clear that any of the life and joy that once made him who he was was long gone. All that was left was a tired old skin that looked like it too would like to be worn away with the rest of the body.

Stan didn't say anything.

Not only because he wouldn't know where to begin, but because he knew nothing he said no longer mattered. He had missed his chance, and he couldn't decide if he was happy about that or not.

Instead all he did was sit himself next to his brother and took his wrinkled hand into his own. It felt like he was holding the hand of a doll. There was hardly any warmth to it, and it laid limp and almost lifeless within his palm. He settled his glaze at Shermie's face, and when he couldn't stand it anymore he turned to the spot ion the wall his brother was so transfixed too. At that moment he almost wished his mind was blank like Shermie's.

He could have stayed like for ever.

Ford could not bring himself to hold Shermie's other hand. In fact he felt like of he so much as touched him the elderly man would fall to pieces. Instead he sat himself on the bed besides his two brother and played with his hands, a sort of nervous habit he had since adopted form grade school.

"Who are you?

The weary voice jolted Ford out of his thoughts and he immediately turned to Shermie and Stan.

Shermie was finally looking Stan in the eyes, but his own expression was dazed and confused.

"It's me Shermie," Stan said as soon as he could find his voice, "Its Stanley..."

Stan had always wondered what how his brother would react when he revealed when he wasn't really dead. He could always picture Shermie reacting one of two ways, either immensely happy to be reunited with a long lost relative, or intensely furious that he had been lied to for the last four decades. Apathetic had never come to mind.

But that was Shermie's reaction as he just said, "Oh." then resumed his stare at the wall.

Both Stan and Ford shared concerned looks, when a near blinding yellow light penetrated the room, and two men walked in.


End file.
